Tufted carpets are multilayer, pile textiles. They are manufactured on special machines on which the pile yarn is joined but not tied, by means of needles, with a base layer, which in the case of carpets today consists almost exclusively of synthetic fibers. The anchoring of the pile yarn is accomplished by a subsequent coating of the reverse side of the base layer with natural or synthetic rubber or with polyvinyl chloride (PVC). The rubber coating moreover is joined to a so-called secondary backing, which as a rule consists of an elastomer foam or a woven or non-woven textile material.
Tufted products find many uses, for example, as carpets, runners, textile tiles, bedspreads, bath mats, etc. In their production, the secondary backing in particular is of considerable importance. The task of the secondary backing is, on the one hand, imparting a better stability to the tufted carpet and on the other hand creating easy slidability on other surfaces, e.g., when the carpet having the secondary backing is to be laid on a carpet pad, which also should have a layer of an easily sliding textile material. Only then will there be an assurance that when laying the carpet from wall to wall, no lasting undulations will form as a result of deformations of both layers, developing from walking on it or from some other use. The undulations or waves affect the appearance and possibly may even be a danger to the user.